CHAPTER XIII
REUNION
With Palas and Felin along the trip was enjoyable, although
Diana and I did have to wear our cloaks most of the time, except
at night when we lent them to Palas and Felin. Palas continued
to make snide remarks and Felin constantly joked about mistaking
Palas for a scare-crow, but by now we were used to it, and knew
that it was all in fun. The last leg of our journey was soon
completed, and we soon stood again before the tower door. The
silver skull above the door once again bathed us in its strange
warmth. This time, however, the skull spoke, greeting us by
name.
"Greetings, Palasanthania of the clan of Taltonius.
Welcome, Felin Understone. And you as well, Firemane and Diana.
You are the last to arrive. Enter, and come to the dining hall."
The voice was Jolan's. The door opened, and we entered. We made
our way to the door on the right, and were surprised to find that
all but four places were taken. Jolan sat at the head of the
table, and stood as we entered.
"Welcome, welcome. Come, take your places." We entered and
sat down, I on one side of Jolan and Diana on the other, with
Felin and Palas seated next to us. At a signal from Jolan, we
removed our cloaks, drawing stares from the rest of the table.
One of our table-mates, a blond woman in heavy armor, jumped up
and drew a sword.
"Deamons!" She snarled almost as well as I could. The
white-robed man seated next to her rose and put a hand on her
arm.
"Merri, I don't think they're deamons. Look at your hand."
She glanced down at her hand, and sat back down, still eyeing us
warily. Meanwhile, Palas and Felin recognized the man.
"YOU!" they cried in unison. The man nodded, and sat down
smiling mysteriously. Jolan, meanwhile, was waiting for things
to calm down, so he could introduce everyone.
"All right, I think introductions are in order before we
begin. At the end of the table there is Marse, and across from
him is Kiaphas." We looked to where he was pointing, and we saw
a draconian, who's headscales were an irridescent red. "Next to
Marse is Merrideth, who is pretty much the reason we're all here.
Across from her is Agnon, who is, among other things, a thief of
the fourth rank." A cynical looking smile crossed Jolan's face,
and he added, "Just so you know, I'll be counting the silverware
later. The dwarf next to Merri is Felin, and across from her is
Palas, who happens to be a mage. The two closest to me are Diana
and Firemane, and they are most certainly not deamons. As for
me, I'm Jolan, and I'm the host of this little gathering."
"Enough of this!" the armored woman shouted, "Why have you
brought us here?" Our host sighed.
"Business first, then? All right. Merrideth, you're quest
is the most important event to occur in the Nine Realms in the
past two centuries. If you fail, chaos and ruin will overtake
us all. I'm sure you can see that it is hardly in my interest
to allow that to happen. Using my powers, I have determined
that together, the nine of us can complete this quest. If you
don't believe me, Merri, ask your friend, the Cleric. After his
untimely death, he had a chance to meet and speak with his patrons
and he came here of his own accord, so I find it presumable that
the gods lend their blessing to this gathering." The white robed
man, Marse, stood. He seemed alive enough to me, but I didn't
comment.
"Suffice it to say that Shani and Evan do not object, though
certainly not for your benifit, Magus." Jolan waved that aside.
"Irrelevent. Whatever the reason, can you deny, Merri, that
even you needed help on you last adventures? Shani chose Marse
for you. You chose Kiaphas and Agnon, or, perhaps more
accurately, they chose you. I asked Firemane and Diana here, and
Palas and Felin came with them of their own accord, although I
believe the cleric there had something to do with that. Besides,
I have something you need." He paused for effect, "I have a means
to find the remaining Stones for you."
"How can you find them?" Merri demanded.
"Simple. Firemane, would you be so kind as to give me your
pack?" I handed him my pack, and he rummaged through it before
coming up with the crystal ball from the prison. "This is the
Third Scry, also known as the Scry of Eol. It was stolen almost
two hundred years ago from the King's Treasury. Somehow or
another it, and many of it's like, have been collected by the
Thenic Republic, from which Felin was kind enough to bring it.
"That glass ball?" Felin asked. "I forgot all about it!"
Jolan smiled condescendingly.
"Yes, well, that was the idea. Now that it is here, I can
use it to locate the remaining Stones, using the two you already
possess to guide us to the others. Unless you have some other way
of finding them?" Merri glared at him, but shook her head.
"Good. It is agreeable to all, then?" Kiaphas nodded good-
naturedly, as did Marse. Everyone else was a bit hesitant.
"Jolan," I said after a pause, "You told me where Mikhal
was, and that led me to find my new friends and helping a lot of
people. Even though he was dead when I got there," This news
surprised Jolan, to judge from his face, "I am still grateful.
However, this is a bit more than I bargained for. You mentioned
you had a task for us. Is this what you had in mind?" Jolan
nodded. "Then tell us what it is you plan to use to repay us, as
you mentioned the last time we were here."
"Very well, Firemane. For Diana, I offer the chance to
become human again. It is within my power." Diana was surprised
by this, and I heard her give a shocked gasp. "For you,
Firemane, I offer this; your past. I know now something of where
you came from, and why, and I can help you return there. I do
not promise that you will like what you find, but wouldn't you
like to know who you really are?"
"I know who I am." I corrected him, "However... You are
right. I would like to know about my past, and how I came to be
like this."
"And you, Diana, would you like to be human again?" Diana
looked over at me, and I could see that she was still filled with
indecision on that point.
"Could Firemane become human as well?" She was grasping at
straws, afraid that I would somehow love her less if she said she
wanted to be human. The truth was, even if he said yes, we both
knew there was no way I'd be happy as anything other than what I
am.
"No, I'm afraid that Firemane is what he is, and he will
stay that way." She looked at me again, and made her decision.
"Then I'm the way I'll stay, too. I've come to like this
body, anyway."
"That changes nothing. Where Firemane goes, you are certain
to follow. Which places the decision with Firemane, I believe."
Everyone looked at me, making me a little nervous and
uncomfortable. I addressed my answer to Diana alone.
"Diana, I really would like to know about my past," I said,
"but if it means leaving you or making you unhappy, then it's not
that important. Nothing is that important." She smiled, and
turned back to Jolan.
"Then that settles it. We're going with you." Imagine my
surprise. I was pleased, however, with the prospect of learning
about my mysterious past.
Meanwhile, Jolan continued around the table. "As for you,
Palas, I offer to show you even greater magic than what you
already know. You still need someone to finish your
instruction." I could see the hunger for knowledge on her face,
and thought it likely that she would decide to come with us.
"Felin, to you the only thing I can offer is adventure. Agnon,
your skills as a thief make you a most valuable addition to our
group. There will be many opportunities to profit from this
endeavor. Besides, think what it will do for your reputation!
Imagine the fees you could charge for your services after this."
Finally, he turned to the armored woman at the other end of the
table. "Lastly, Merri, you know why you must complete this
quest, and we are your best chance. If you don't believe me, ask
the cleric." He looked around the table, trying to read our
faces. "Well, what is it to be?"
I could see that Merri was set against the idea, and I got
the feeling that getting her to change her mind would be like
trying to set a river flowing backwards. Agnon seemed to like
the idea, and I saw his eyes light up when Jolan mentioned money
and fees. Marse and Kiaphas had already agreed, and Felin seemed
eager to begin. Palas seemed torn between her desire for
knowledge and her father's cautioning words. However, I was
fairly sure she'd decide to come with us. It wasn't in her
nature to back down from anything.
Agnon anounced that he would go with the group.
"I've already helped steal one of the blasted things, I
might as well get the rest." After that, Felin piped up, saying
that she'd go. No one seemed terribly surprised, but be that as
it may, her agreement pushed Palas to join as well.
"Well, Merrideth? Do you do this alone, or do you accept
our help?" Marse put his hand on her shoulder, and whispered
something to her. She shrugged his hand away in irritation.
"And hasn't She given me enough grief already? I agreed
that I'd go on this blasted quest, not that I'd get involved with
this bunch of misfits. I have enough trouble sometimes just
getting a room at an inn myself, what am I going to do with this
group?"
"Diana and I can sleep outside, if you like." I suggested.
"You know what I mean, blastit. Now, I have nothing against
diversity, but surely you can see that this group is going to
stir trouble wherever it goes!" Jolan nodded, conceeding the
point.
"That is very true. However, if there was ever a group to
be in trouble with, it would be this one. Firemane, Diana,
Palas, and Felin here arrived from freeing a Republic prison.
You can well imagine how difficult that was. You, Kiaphas, and
Agnon arrived here after recovering the second Stone, and freeing
the Draconians of New Altia from enslavement a second time. As
for Marse, you've traveled with him before, besides which, he's
the only person I've ever known to return from the dead as a
real, living being. I am an Archmage in all but title, and we
tend to be fairly resourceful when we want to be. There are few
situations that this group, working together, could not get out
of."
"And what about you, Wizard?" Agnon asked, "What do you get
out of all this? You've obviously gone through a lot of trouble
to bring us all here, so the obvious question is, why? I don't
believe that you'd do all this without some ulterior motive.
You just don't look like the noble, heroic type."
As he finished, before Jolan could respond, a black-robed
figure entered the dining hall, and sat at the end of the table
opposite Jolan, in the only available seat. Jolan raised his
bushy white eyebrows and addressed the newcomer. "Oh, good, I
thought you might not show up. This is Li-Ren-Ka. I believe
Merri has already met him. He is the tenth guest of this little
dinner, although I must admit I didn't invite him." He looked at
me and then pointedly commented to Merri, "Oh, by the way, this
one IS a deamon." If anyone wasn't paying attention before, they
certainly were after that. "He's been traveling with Merri on
all of her journeys, although he's been very clever about hiding
himself." The deamon spoke.
"This quest ends here, Wizard. I have been sent to offer
you all one final chance to leave. You will be rewarded. You,"
He pointed to Palas, going around the table in mockery of Jolan.
"We will give you power greater than anything this fool could
show you. Power enough even to stike back at those who have
wronged you so. You," He pointed to Agnon, "Wealth beyond
anything known before on Eol. You," he pointed to Felin, "we can
show you greater things than anything you would see on this
foolish quest. I can take you to the Ancestral Caves, where the
old masters live still. You could learn the secrets of your
forefathers. You," he pointed to Kiaphas, "Have no business
here. Leave while you yet live. And as for you two," He pointed
to Diana and myself. "I can make you both human, show you your
past, give you great power. You can take your revenge on anyone
you please. In fact," he said, breaking his pattern somewhat,
"There is a place for you among our numbers. Make no mistake.
You, both of you" He gestured to indicate me and Jolan both,
"Will join us, willingly or not. It is your destiny."
He turned to address Merri, "There is no reason for you to
risk your life like this. The gods are using you, and you know
it. They have admitted it freely! Your sister died a long time
ago, like everyone else who tried to take the Altar."
"That's enough!" Merrideth yelled, jumping to her feet at
the mention of her sister, toppling her chair and sending it
skittering across the floor. She held up her hand, and I saw, to
my surprise, that it was glowing white. The deamon noticed it
too, for he quickly stood and stepped back a few paces.
"You are all fools if you do not quit now. Your gods will
not tell you this, but none of you will reach the Altar
unscathed. Death, madness, and calamity await each and every one
of you. You cannot imagine the forces set against you. Oh, yes,
Marse, I almost forgot. Someone sends her warmest regards. I'll
make sure she doesn't get cold waiting for you." Marse jumped to
his feet, with Merri trying to restrain him, but the deamon
vanished. "Fools!" its monsterous laugh echoed throughout the
hall.
All was silent until Merri spoke. "All right, then. If
that... that thing doesn't want us to be together, then there
must be some value in it. I'm in." Jolan was thrilled.
"Good! Excelent. Now, I have a lovely feast prepared. I
hope you're hungry!" Suddenly the table was loaded with food,
and the glasses in front of us filled themselves with wine.
Jolan raised his glass and made a toast.
"To our quest!" Kiaphas and Felin raised their glasses, but
the rest of us were too unsettled by the deamon's visit, and we
took no notice. Jolan seemed disappointed, but he drained his
glass anyway. "Now, if you will all settle down?" He ran his
fork against his glass several times, in a futile attempt to get
our attention. Finally, in exasperation, he raised his hands
into the air and chanted loudly. From between his outstretched
arms a large cone of shimmering golden light streamed over the
table, accompanied by a sound like glass smashing. All other
conversation stopped, all eyes turned to him, and silence
prevailed, excluding Diana's sneezes. "Thank you. You can't let
a silly little deamon like Li-Ren-Ka upset you so much. You,
Merri, should be especially inured to him by now."
"What do you mean by that, Wizard?" She made the title
sound like a slur.
"As I said, he has been with you since your ordeal began.
Do you think it was an accident that the cairrage just happened
to take you to a necromancer's lair? You think it was an
accident that you were attacked in Orga, and saved by the one elf
who knew exactly what you were looking for? That you were
ambushed in Asero by a thief who had an artifact that would be
instrumental in freeing New Altia?"
"Actually, yes I did, and I still do. If what you say is
true, he isn't that powerful. As for Li-Ren-Ka, he haunted my
dreams once, but not since this." She held up the palm that had
been glowing before, and I saw that it had a strange pattern
etched on it. "Now my dreams are no longer haunted by deamons.
Would-be Arch-Magi, perhaps, but no deamons."
"You mean he used that trick on you, too?" I asked.
"That's why I'm here. My dreams told me that I would find
Marse here."
"Which you did, I see. At least he sent you the truth."
"What do you mean?" I shook my head, and declined to
elaborate. It wasn't important at the moment. Jolan had been
listening to our debate, and decided to interupt.
"At any rate, you understand what I meant." He looked
around the table again, and sighed in disappointment. "I can see
that this dinner simply is not going to be a success. I can show
you to your rooms, if you like, where you can dine in privacy, as
well as rest from your journies. I have managed to have all of
your rooms on the same floor for the moment, but don't count on
them staying that way. I will provide all of you with the means
to move about as you please. Firemane, Diana, since you have
enjoyed my hospitality before, I would appreciate you helping
with getting the others settled. As you know, this tower
sometimes takes a bit of getting used to." Diana and I nodded,
and everyone rose to leave.
"Jolan, what about the food?" Felin asked, "You can't just
leave it there, can you?" He looked back over his shoulder.
"Oh, yes, how forgetful of me." He absently waved his hand
over his shoulder, and the food vanished as quickly as it
appeared.
Jolan led us all to our rooms. Diana and I were in the same
quarters as before, and our friends were lodged in the adjacent
set of rooms. Marse and Merrideth were given a set of rooms
together, which left Agnon and Kiaphas to share the last set.
Though we were all tired, everyone gathered in our room to talk.
Felin was the first to start asking questions, as usual.
"What did he mean about our rooms not staying as they are?
Do you think he plans to move us?"
"No, this tower sometimes moves things around on it's own."
I answered, "That's why he gave you the medallions, so you can
still get to where you want to be, even if the halls rearrange
themselves. Oh, and I wouldn't go touching things without
knowing what they are. When we first got here, we explored a bit
before we met Jolan. On the first floor, opposite the dining
hall, there is a room full of emptiness. When I put my arm in,
it tried to suck me into itself. Likewise, there are floors
which have doors that lead to other places in the world, but they
only work one way, so I wouldn't suggest you walk through them
unless you know what you're doing." When I finished, I noticed
Merrideth watching me with an uncomfortable scrutiny.
"If you don't mind my asking, just what the hells are you
two?" She asked, "The only thing I've ever heard of like you is a
lycanthrope, or perhaps one of the legendary minotaurs. Marse is
right, you aren't deamons, or this," she motioned to her hand,
"would be glowing." Diana sighed, and was about to explain yet
again what had happened to her, when Felin jumped in.
"She was changed by an evil enchanter! Can I tell her,
Diana?" Diana gladly agreed.
"Please, by all means!" With Diana adding the occasional
correction, the story was soon recapped to everyone's
satisfaction. Merri then turned to me. I held up my paw to
forestall her obvious question.
"I don't know how I came to be like this. That's one reason
I'm going along with this quest, so I can find out where I came
from."
"You don't know? How could you not know?"
"Well, I washed up on the beach, and I was taken in by a
villager. Before waking up in his hut, I don't remember
anything."
"This villager, he was the Mikhal you mentioned?" I nodded.
"Then I am sorry to hear that he died. He sounds like a nice
person."
"One of the few people who didn't assume I was a deamon when
he first saw me, yeah. Do deamons really look that much like
us?"
"Sometimes. They look like whatever they want to look like,
really." Palas spoke up here.
"Not really. Deamons do have a true shape, which is
different for each of them. They're just very good at creating
illusions. The problem is seeing past the illusion, to the
truth. Most deamons have an inherent weakness, and it is often
revealed in their true form." She looked quizically at Merri.
"I'm surprised you didn't know that." Merri shrugged.
"Deamon hunting was my grand-father's job, not mine." That
led Palas to her next question.
"So, what do you do, when you aren't finding these Stones,
that is?"
"Well, I'm a... I was just a fighter, and I'm registered at
the Adventurer's Guild. That's where I met Kiaphas, here." She
turned to the dwarf. "You might like to register, Felin. You
get excitement, adventure, and you can keep most of whatever you
find along the way."
"Most?" Felin asked.
"Well, the Guild does charge a certain percentage of what
you earn, in return for finding you the adventure."
"Sounds a little like being a mercenary."
"Well, in a way, but it's not quite the same. When people
have a problem, or a quest, or whatever, and they need good help,
they come to the Adventurer's Guild."
"Why bother having a Guild, though? Why not just find
adventure on your own?"
"Well, some people do that. But what are the odds that you
are going to be nearby when someone needs your help? It is a
large world, after all. Besides, the Guild is good for both
sides. When you register with the Guild, they test you to see
how good you are at your chosen field. They rank you
accordingly, and that gives people something to go by. After
all, would you, alone, want to take on a dragon?" Felin shook
her head quickly. "Then again, for some, a dragon wouldn't pose
that great a problem. The Guild tries to match the task to the
person or group. Besides, sometimes you need specific talents.
Take us, for example. We have a thief, a cleric, a mage--two if
you want to count Jolan--a Paladin, and several of us have unique
gifts. Kiaphas, for example, has a very interesting trick.
Since he's a draconian, he can change part of his shape." I
looked at the draconian with surprise. He smiled, which was
almost as bad as when I try it. "He can grow wings, when he
needs them, and he can become almost twice as large, and much
more dragon-like."
"My people were made much the way Diana was," he explained,
"except that we began as dragons, or similer reptiles. Like our
dragon ancesters, magic is a part of us, and we can use it to
bend our shapes a little. My ancesters were wyverns, in case you
were wondering, which is where I get the red scales." I hadn't
been wondering, but it was interesting none the less.
"You don't sound quite as opposed to working with us as you
did." Diana noted to Merri.
"Well... Jolan was right. I can't do this alone. What irks
me, though, is the feeling that he manipulated us."
"Oh, don't worry, he did." I put in, "He sent me a dream
vision of Mikhal, saying that he was here. He left a magical
trail for Diana to follow, and we traveled for more than a month
to get here, getting attacked by a pack of lycanthropes on the
way. When we got here, we learned that he had tricked us."
"And you came back here anyway?" Agnon asked, incredulous.
It was the first we'd noticed him since dinner. He managed to
make himself very ignorable.
"Yes... but it's a little hard to explain. As I said, he
did tell us where Mikhal was, even though he had died by the time
we got there. Besides, we got to meet Palas and Felin." Felin
chuckled, remembering the circumstances of that meeting.
"That reminds me," Palas said, "how did you know where to
find us, Marse? Why did you send us to meet Diana and Firemane?
Not that I'm complaining, of course."
"It was shown to me, when I... died." Felin, naturally,
couldn't resist asking about that.
"Did you really die?"
"Well, yes, I... sort of. It's a long story." Merri put
her hand on his shoulder.
"It's a story I would like to hear." She said, and I got
the feeling that we were probably going to hear it.
"If you insist. Where should I start? You know more than
they do."
"Start in the tunnels. I can fill in from there, if I have
to."
"All right. After Elianthanis grabbed me, he took me
through a winding series of tunnels, and we came out in a large
chamber. He took me to where the Stone was, and he stood before
it. He drew a knife from his belt, and used his magic to hold
me immobile. While I was incapacitated, I felt him performing a
strange ritual, cutting his wrist and mine and letting the blood
mingle over the crystal. When he released me from the spell, the
cuts were sealed. I could sense the life-bond between us, and I
could feel his mind and soul invading mine, like small insects
crawling across my brain." I could almost see his skin try to
crawl at the memory. "Then you came in, Merri, and you listened
while Elianthanis explained his reasons. I knew that you
wouldn't kill him, because that would kill me. So I snatched up
the dagger from the ground--which was actually the Navian Blade--
and stabbed him with it. Because of the life-bond, I felt the
dagger pierce my skin at the same time. Elianthanis found the
mortality he was seeking." I saw Palas's eyebrows arch at that,
but she held here peace. "I, however, was not quite the same. I
was held between life and death, because of the life-bond,
Elianthanis's immortal blood, and the power of the Stone itself.
While I was between planes, I was granted a vision of the gods.
I was shown what the future here could hold for me and the joys
of the afterlife, and I was offered a choice. I decided that I
had to return, to set things right here before I went on. I said
farewell to you, Merri, and then I left to find my way to the
Republic."
"Why didn't you simply come with me? I could have gone with
you to the Republic."
"No, I told you, our paths diverged. You needed to go to
Altia, to free the Draconians and retreive the second Stone.
Detouring to Eol and the Republic would have taken too much
time."
"Why couldn't you tell me that then instead of now? Why did
you make me suffer, thinking you had become one of the undead?"
"It was not my intention to cause suffering, but I was told,
for reasons even I do not understand, to remain silent about
that. I am sorry, Merri." Merri remained sullen. Gods, and I
thought Palas had an attitude problem! We sat and talked for
several more hours, getting familiar with each other and swapping
stories of our past experiences. It was only when Felin started
snoring that we realized how late it was. Palas woke Felin up,
and everyone left for their respective quarters, leaving Diana
and me alone. There were things I wanted to talk about with
Diana, but I could tell that we were both too tired to have any
sort of fruitful conversation, so I decided to wait for another
time. We eagerly climbed into bed and fell blissfully asleep,
both of us comforted by the other's embrace.
The next day, Jolan gathered us together in his workshop,
which was on one of the below-ground levels of the tower. Under
his instruction, Merri drew both of the Stones she had from her
pouch, and held them in her scarred palm, with the Stones
arranged at key positions on the pattern. It was my first
opportunity to see the Stones that seemed to be so important.
They didn't look very impressive, just a small clear jewel and a
blue rock, both glowing faintly. However, after a moment of
holding them, the pattern around them began to react, tracing
paths of blue and white light across the scars on her palm.
Merri moaned, though whether in agony or ecstacy no one was sure,
perhaps least of all herself. When the pattern was completely
traced, her entire body was outlined in a soft, pale blue light,
and Jolan directed her to place her other hand on the Scry.
As she touched the crystal sphere, it too began to glow, but
it glowed with a different shade of blue, a sort of azure color.
The nimbus of light surrounding Merri suddenly expanded outward,
projecting itself in bands toward different directions, until it
finally began to only project beams toward her right side. The
area of projection and the width of the beams gradually
diminished, until at last there was a single, narrow ray
extending from her. Merri began to speak, her voice echoing
strangely, as if coming from two sources at once.
"What we seek is in Ombal. It is held in a small shrine, at
the top of a mountain, where it is being used to store elemental
power. I don't think it's been there very long, but there is
some plan to use it's power soon. I see men in robes, probably
Magi. I can feel the Stone calling me." The ray began to get
wider, and the aura around her began to diminish. "I can feel
it's power, drawing me too it!" Marse noticed the change in her
glow, and also the less coherent tone of her voice, and moved to
end the vision. Jolan got there just slightly ahead of him.
"I think that's enough. We know how to find the Stone now,
you can stop." He tried to remove her hand from the Scry, and
was sent flying backwards to tumble against the wall for his
trouble. Merri, meanwhile, was oblivious and was standing
silently, her eyes closed. Seeing how Jolan fared, Kiaphas took
a different approach. Whipping out with his tail-- did he have a
tail a moment ago? --he knocked the pedestal out from under the
Scry, breaking the contact with Merri's hand. Palas, seeing the
crystal ball falling, dove quickly to catch it, only to knock
heads with Agnon, who'd had the same idea. Fortunately, the ball
landed on Palas's back, and rolled safely onto the floor.
Merri swayed from side to side for a moment, then fell into
Marse's arms. Marse lowered her carefully to the ground,
removing the Stones from her hand and placing them back in her
pouch. We waited for several minutes for Jolan and Merri to
regain conciousness, during which time the only sounds were made
by Agnon and Palas, both of whom were rubbing their heads and
whispering recriminations at each other. Jolan woke first,
groaning as he got to his feet. Marse reluctantly rose from
where he was tending Merri, and offered his help to the bruised
and battered mage. Jolan waved him aside and began using his own
powers to heal himself, which prompted several snorts from Diana,
who apparently found the scent displeasing. Marse shrugged and
returned to Merri, who awoke shortly thereafter. She managed to
rise to her feet, though she was rather wobbly, and she asked
what had happened.
"Well, you told us where the Stone was, and then you started
going weird on us, so Jolan tried to help. You knocked him
across the room without batting an eye, and Kiaphas snapped you
out of it by knocking the Scry from your hand." Felin provided
as accurate a narration as was needed, and none of us had
anything we felt important enough to add, although I did notice
that Kiaphas was once again without a tail. An impressive trick,
I thought. There were occasions when I'd had reason to wish I
could do something with my tail, as it sometimes got in the way,
especially when trying to sit in chairs built for humans. I
wondered how he managed to extend his tail while he was wearing
pants.
After everyone was sufficiently recovered from that
experience, we began getting organized for a trip to Ombal. When
I asked Jolan if the Gateways would take us there, he replied
that there were a few that opened on nearby locations.
Unfortunately, one was the underwater scene we'd seen earlier,
and the other was almost a mile above the island. We agreed that
few of us would be likely to survive such a trip. Luckily, Jolan
hadn't planned on using the Doorways, and had arranged other
transportation. Jolan took us down to his storerooms, where he
began digging out all sorts of odd things. Some of these he gave
to various members of our group, but most he stuffed down into a
bag, which could't possibly have held as much as he was putting
into it. To Palas he handed something that made her entire face
light up; a spellbook.
"You might find these spells more useful than your
illusions. Fear not, none of them are of a dark nature. Learn
them well, for I do not doubt that we will have need of them."
Palas nodded, and I could tell that she was going to get less
sleep from now on. To Felin, he gave a battle axe, with a fine
steel head and a solid oak shaft. Felin, after examining the
blade, commented that she could find no fault with the metal or
the craftsmanship. Jolan commented that such was probably due to
the fact that it was made by dwarven hands. To Kiaphas he
offered an amulet that would permit a full transformation from
draconian to dragon. Kiaphas accepted, but said he'd probably
never find use for it, which turned out to be incorrect,
unfortunately. He ran across a small bag of coins, which he
tossed, almost carelessly, to Agnon, who caught it, opened it,
evaluated the contents, and made it vanish in the same fluid
motion, a matter of a few seconds.
When Jolan finally finished stuffing his bag, he led us to
the roof of the tower. The tower, when seen from outside, is
about seven or eight stories high, but when we reached the roof I
could see that the tower stood above even the clouds. I
mentioned this to Jolan.
"I told you about the strangeness of this tower. I think
this is a more accurate view of it's hieght, but it's possible
that even this is an illusion. At any rate, we must be leaving."
We were all slightly uneasy with that statement, but Merri was
the only one to voice the feeling.
"From here? Not that I question your judgement," The look
on her face belied that statement, "But how? Are we to grow
wings like Kiaphas, and fly?"
"Not precisely, but we will fly. Gather around me,
everyone!" We arranged ourselves into a loose circle around the
mage. Jolan began chanting and waving his arms in strange
patterns. A bluish-gold sphere of energy surrounded us. Jolan,
to ease our fears, was explaining as he went. "A sphere of
protection." He began chanting again, and the world around us
seemed to waver. When the world was still again we thought we
had been teleported, because we were on a vast plain of stone.
"Sorry about that. I should have warned you ahead of time. That
was a size alteration. We are now small enough to be carried by
the winds." He began chanting again, and a gust of wind grabbed
the sphere around us, carrying it off above the clouds. "Now
then," Jolan said when he was done chanting, "Just sit back, and
enjoy the ride. We should be there sometime late this
afternoon."
"So quickly?" I asked.
"Yes. Look below you. The winds are carrying us at an
increadible pace." I made the mistake of actually looking down.
It is... disturbing, to say the least, to find yourself suspended
so far above the ground. Everyone tried to find a comfortable
position to sit in, not easy on the curved floor of the sphere,
and Palas immediately opened the book Jolan had given her and
began going over it. In minutes, we crossed the plains Diana and
I had travelled across. We saw a few herds of the large beasts
we'd encountered before. I pointed them out to Jolan.
"Those are called bison. They're like big, shaggy cows."
"Yes, we got a good look at them, as they rushed past us.
If we hadn't been on a hill, they would have rushed over us
instead."
"Well, they aren't the most intelligent creatures." Diana
and I agreed with that.
Soon after that, we were flying over open water. It didn't
take long for the shore to receed behind us, leaving us above a
massive expanse of blue, stretching in all directions. Twice we
passed through patches of rain, emerging with moisture beaded on
the surface of the sphere and an amazing scent of freshness in
the air. We used the food-producing bags for dinner, to the
satisfaction of all but Diana and myself. Sometime after dinner,
just as the sun was sinking into the sea in a dazzling display,
we sighted land, which Jolan identified as our destination. A
few minutes later, the sphere slowed, and began to descend. Our
perspective shifted on the way down, as the magic faded and we
returned to our normal sizes. We were soon deposited on a beach,
and the sphere dissolved from around us.
"Well, that sure as hells beats walking!" Felin was quick to
exclaim.
"Or sailing." Marse agreed. Merri chuckled at that, though
I didn't understand why at the time.
"Palas, have you been studying the book I gave you?" Jolan
asked, though we'd all seen her studying in the sphere.
"Yes, some of the spells are very interesting. I like the
teleportation variant that replaces the clone spell. How do you
handle objects while you're not there half the time?" Jolan's
mouth twitched upward into a half-smile.
"Very carefully." He responded, "But that isn't what I
meant. We may need you to cast spells. Casting spells on so
many people for so long is very draining, and I want to conserve
my powers as much as possible. Now, Merri, can you tell us which
mountain you saw in your vision?"
"Not from here, no. I was seeing it from the point of view
of the Stone itself."
"I was afraid of that." He thought for a moment, "Diana,
would you be so kind as to see if you can detect any subtle
magics nearby? They won't be quite as odiferous as the trail you
followed to my tower, but they should be noticable, if a bit
faint." Diana closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her
muzzle.
"I smell something... mostly you. There are trails leading
both up and down the beach, as well as a few leading inland, and
one leading out to sea. Don't you dare ask me to describe them,
either. I'm having a hard enough time just finding them."
"I'm sorry, I hadn't realized my scent would interfere. Oh,
well, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a shrine on top of a
mountain. Oh, just as a thought, perhaps you two," he pointed to
Diana and myself, "would like to put your cloaks on? I know it's
a bother, but I honestly don't want to put up with locals who
think they see deamons." He had a point, so Diana and I quickly
pulled our cloaks out of our packs, and a moment later we had
them on, obscuring our faces. "There are settlements all along
the coast, and I'm sure someone must know where the shrine is."
We set off in the direction of the nearest visable habitation.
When we arrived, we found the village deserted.
"Maybe they saw Palas coming, and decided to leave before
they got an earful?" Felin ventured.
"Amusing, but no." Jolan answered, "Perhaps we can find
someone left who knows what is going on here." We scoured the
village, and Kiaphas surprised a man leaving his shop, probably
frightening the poor man out of his wits. Having a draconian
surprise you is not an experience I'd imagine to be good for the
nerves. When he woke from his faint, he found the nine of us
gathered around him, with Kiaphas standing over him. He jumped,
but didn't faint again.
"Sorry about scaring you like that. I'm Kiaphas." the man
seemed relieved.
"Oh, a draconian. Eli's Tears! No offense, but you could
give a guy a heart failure doing that. All I saw was red scales
and teeth."
"No offense taken. My people are... distinctive. I was
wondering if you could help us. Where have all the villagers
gone?"
"You mean you don't know? Everyone's up on the mountain,
for the ceremony. The Mage's Guild finally decided to fix the
weather here, and we're all celebrating."
"They did WHAT!" Jolan exclaimed.
"Yeah, up there on the mountain. I had a few things to take
care of here, but I was planning on being there. I didn't miss
it did I?" Kiaphas was quick to reassure him that he'd only been
out for a few minutes at most. Jolan, meanwhile, was furious.
He was pacing around, muttering the most obscene things about the
members of the Guild's council, and he was quite explicit on
several subjects, particularly concerning their nocturnal
activities and parentage. Vulgarity aside, however, I didn't see
how that would help us now.
"Jolan, if you don't mind? We'd like to go now. I don't
think it's too much to assume that the shrine we're looking for
is where all of these people are gathering, is it?" Jolan
stopped and nodded.
"Yes! Yes, and if we hurry, maybe I can stop them! Come
on!" He ran off full tilt up the street, and we were hard
pressed to keep up with him, even after the street became a
mountain trail, and then a simple foot-path. We knew we were
going the right way, because we could see signs of many people
passing that way recently. We found what we were looking for, a
shrine on top of a mountain. Unfortunately, it seemed that half
the population of Ombal had found it at the same time. A great
throng of people seperated us from the shrine. As soon as we
emerged into the clearing, Diana began sniffling.
"Diana, are you all right?" I whispered, concerned.
"I think so. There is something strange about the air here.
It's like it's charged with magic. Look." she pointed to my fur,
which was standing on end.
"She's right, Firemane," Jolan added, "The stupid bastard is
actually going to do it. I should have known the Stone would end
up in his hands."
"Whose hands?" Merri asked.
"The Consulate Prime's. He's the head of the Council.
We've got to stop him."
"Well," Kiaphas said, "I don't see how."
"Um, I have a question." Felin piped up. "Where's Agnon?"
We looked around and, sure enough, the thief was missing. As
irksome as it was, I had to admit that he was very good at being
overlooked.
"There's no time to worry about him!" Jolan cried, "In a few
more minutes, the spell will be cast!"
"I have an idea, but it's not a very good one." I said.
"What?" I explained my plan, and everyone agreed that it
wasn't a very good one. However, it was the only one we had, so
we went with it.
I shouldered my way deep into the crowd, and threw off my
cloak. I roared loudly, and everyone around me began to scream
and run. Diana had worked her way deeper into the crowd, and she
threw her cloak off, snarling at anyone nearby. She, too,
cleared a large radius around her. This cleared something of a
path into the crowd, which our companions took advantage of.
Just as several members of the crowd were overcoming their
initial fear, we all sprinted to the farthest edge of our open
expanse, which cleared an even greater space. As soon as a path
to the shrine was completely clear, Palas created an illusionary
wall of grey fire to prevent the crowd from attacking us. As we
made our way to the shrine, she drew the wall of fire in behind
us, until it only covered the small area directly in front of the
shrine. We climbed onto the platform, where a circle of magi
were chanting, completing the spell. Another mage stepped from
behind them, and approached us.
"Ah, If it isn't the rogue magus himself, Jolan Occarius. I
see you brought your deamons with you this time. I suppose I
shouldn't be surprised. You have nothing to lose, now that
everyone knows you consort with them."
"We are not deamons, any more than you are." I spat.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Merri cautioned. She held
up her hand, and we could see the light it shed. "If this is any
indication, he may have far more business with deamons than
you." The Consulate Prime dropped all pretense of righteousness.
"Well, I can't see why I should lie to you now. All of you
are going to die so it doesn't matter what you know. I'm getting
an unbelievable amount of money for this, but what's better, I'm
getting power. You were right, Jolan. This spell will result in
disaster across the Realms. I'm going to be well rewarded for my
help in spreading this chaos, just as I was rewarded for getting
rid of you."
"What of them?" Jolan said, indicating the chanting magi.
"Those fools? They're being consumed by the magic even as
we speak. Their lives will add power to the spell. When I
return to Eol, I'll tell the Council that it was an unfortunate
error in the casting. Such things do happen, after all."
"How could you do this? The duties of Consulate Prime are a
sacred trust! How can you wantonly violate them like this?"
"So sanctimonius, Jolan? I'm surprised. Perhaps this
rediculous quest of yours has gone to your head."
"And what is to stop me from simply killing you?" I asked,
stepping forward. He raised his hands in warning, and they were
surrounded by a strange darkness.
"The fact that if any of you move, I'll kill you. Even with
the help of deamons, you don't get to be Consulate Prime without
knowing some powerful magic! I know spells that no else has
access to, spells Jolan there couldn't even begin to counter.
No, Firemane, don't even try it. Our mutual friend, Li-Ren-Ka,
told me all about you and the vixen." Blast, so much for that
idea.
Jolan was mumbling, and Palas dropped her firewall to
prepare to cast a spell. The Consulate gestured toward them.
"Voidspell." he said, in plain Common. I wasn't familiar with
magic terminology, but from the frustrated look on Jolan's face,
I could guess easily enough the spell's effect. Merri's hand
moved slowly to her sword, but the Consulate just looked at her
and shook his head. Felin rushed forward, drawing her axe and
loosing a fierce warcry, but the Consulate spat a few arcane
sylables and blew a breath in her direction. She was thrown from
the shrine as though a powerful blast of wind had caught her. I
tell you no lie, this mage was really starting to get on my bad
side.
"You are too late!" He cried. The circle of magi were
bathed in an azure glow, and they were slowly consumed by the
powers they were channeling. The Stone drew them into itself,
and a great rumbling shook the mountain. A field of blue energy
dripped from the crystal and seeped into the ground, and a beam
shot upwards, then expanded into a cone of blue light. This cone
then lowered, slowly, until it reached our level, becoming a
bright blue disc. I felt mildly uncomfortable as the disc passed
through me, but Diana fell to the floor, choking, and I turned to
help her, but the wizard motioned for me to stop. I could do
nothing but snarl at him. The cone extended again, this time
downward, until it reached sea-level, where it stopped, and
returned upwards to the Stone again. When it reached the Stone,
the energy projection vanished. "The spell is completed! Power
beyond imagining is mine!"
He jerked suddenly, eyes widening, and made a strange, strangled
noise. He dropped to his knees, and to our surprise we found
Agnon standing behind him, holding a bloody knife. The Consulate
was, I would imagine, even more surprised than we were to find
himself stabbed.
"Well... I'll be damned," he exclaimed. Seeing that his
attention was elsewhere for the moment, I went to see to Diana.
She was breathing again, the spell's cloying power having
dissapated throughout the island already. Merri stepped forward
to deal with the stricken Consulate.
"That's right," she confirmed, "you will be." She drew her
sword, and plunged it downward through his body, impaling him.
Planting her foot on his shoulder, Merri pulled her sword from
his body, and the wizard slumped to the ground, dead. Agnon was
already sounding insufferably pleased with himself.
"It's a lucky thing I decided to sneak up on him. What
would you people do without me?" Jolan ignored his smugness.
"We're too late! Do you know what this is going to do?"
"Can't you negate the spell?" Palas asked. Jolan shook his
head.
"Not without having the same number of magi absorbed in the
casting. I'm afraid all we can do is take the Stone and hope
that it weakens the spell. I'm afraid that whatever we do, the
Realms are in for some bad times."
"At least we have the Stone." Merri said. I should have
known something was wrong when I saw the eagerness in her eyes,
but I didn't think anything of it. She lifted the Stone from
it's place in the shrine, and clutched it tightly in her palm.
Just like before, in the tower, she was surrounded by a bright
light, this time a somewhat different shade of blue. I could see
a sublime look of satisfaction cross her face. She shuddered.
"It's unbelievable. Oh, the power!" She began laughing. She
drew the other two Stones from her pouch, and put them in the
same palm with the other. What looked like lightning crawled
across her skin, and her eyes were almost invisible behind the
energy they were radiating. When she spoke, it was with the same
echoing tone she'd had earlier, "I understand now! I see it!
Yes!" She raised the fist holding the Stones above her head, and
her feet left the ground. Marse tried to call her down.
"Merri, stop! The power is affecting your reason. Put the
Stones back down." She whirled around to face him, insanity
plainly visible on her face.
"Back off, altar boy!" She laughed, "I don't think I'll be
taking orders from you anymore. Or from your grand goddess,
either!" Kiaphas was about to rush forward, but Jolan held him
back. Remembering the blasting he'd taken back at the tower, I
could understand why he didn't want Kiaphas trying anything rash.
"From now on, I'm doing this my way, and that means doing it
ALONE!" She swung her free hand in a arc toward us, and we were
all sent tumbling backwards. Merri raised her hand so that both
were above her head, and went soaring through the ceiling with a
loud crack of shattering wood. She ascended into the sky, and
streaked off to the East, her maniacal laughter echoing in her
wake.
I picked myself up from where I'd been thrown, and looked to
see how Diana had fared. She was bleeding a little from scrapes
along one side, since she'd been on the ground, and had been
pushed back along the rough floor, but otherwise she was fine. I
helped her to her feet, and we looked to see how the others were
doing. Jolan and Palas had shielded themselves, and Kiaphas had
his thick hide to protect him, but the two humans hadn't done so
well. Agnon had been thrown not only back, but upwards as well,
and he was caught in the rafters of the shrine, unconscious. The
cleric was also banged up, but he was more than capable of
dealing with that. He stood, and I could see that his left arm
was hanging at an unnatural angle.
"Your arm, is it...?"
"Broken? Yes. If one of you would give me a hand setting
it, I can heal it in a few minutes. I'm more concerned with
Agnon. Can you see any way to get him down?" Palas helped him
set and mend his arm, while we tried to think of some way to
reach the unconscious thief.
"Where's Felin?" Palas asked, wincing in sympathy as the
cleric moved his broken limb back into place. It was a good
question.
"I didn't see what happened to her after the Consulate blew
her out of the shrine." I said, using my claws to climb up to
where Agnon was lying. With help from Diana, I carefully lowered
him to the floor, where Marse was waiting to examine him.
"He hit his head pretty hard, but his skull is in one piece.
He should be fine after he wakes up, but he's not going to like
the headache he'll have," Marse decided, using his powers to
relieve as much of that pain as possible.
Wondering what had become of Felin, I looked out of the
shrine and realized we had another problem. The crowd outside
was turning into a riot, and we still needed to find our missing
dwarf. I noticed a small knot of greater activity, which I soon
saw was a group of humans struggling to hold on to a flailing
Felin. Afraid of what the mob might do to her, I called Jolan
over. Pointing out the problem, I asked him if there was
anything he could do to help. He reached into the bag on his
belt, into which he'd stuffed so much back at the tower, and drew
out a handful of yellow dust. Motioning for me to back up, he
began throwing the dust into the wind. The wind scattered the
dust across the crowd, and suddenly the rioting mob decided to
take a nice, quiet nap. When Jolan judged that all the dust had
settled, I climbed down from the shrine and recovered our young
dwarf, who was snoring along with the rest of the crowd. There
was a lively debate going when I returned.
"Well, Jolan? What now?" Palas was demanding. "I think
it's fairly obvious that Merri doesn't want--or, in all
likelihood, need--our help."
"You're asking the wrong person, Palas, and your anger is
also misplaced. I didn't expect this any more than you did." He
turned to Marse. "If you want to ask questions, ask the man
who's held council with the gods. Tell me, cleric, did you see
this when you died?"
"I saw something of this, yes. I had hoped that I could
reason with her."
"You could have warned us!" Marse sighed.
"I don't feel like arguing the point here. Let's return to
your tower before everyone wakes up here. Unless you'd like to
explain to the local authorities what happened here?" Nobody
relished that particular idea, to judge from their faces.
"Returning to the tower may take some time. I'm not sure if
I'm up to the effort yet." Marse's lips curled upward in a
mysterious smile.
"Then I'll handle the return." Marse knelt, and bowed his
head for a moment. A white haze surrounded us, and seconds later
we were standing once again on the roof of the tower.
"How.. What did you just do?" Jolan demanded. Marse gave
him a quizzical look.
"You think that just because I'm a cleric, I can't work a
teleportation?"
"But for eight people, over such a distance?" Marse just
smiled and shrugged, his modesty getting the best of him.
"That's not important." I pointed out, "As Palas asked, what
now?"
"Perhaps I can get you the answers you want." Marse bowed
his head again, and a few moments later, his goddess appeared.
"Thank you for coming, my lady." Marse said, bowing in
homage. I was impressed. I'd never seen a goddess before.
"Your confusion is understandable. Even my Father did not
foresee this."
"My lady, what is your will?" Marse asked.
"Your quest has not changed. You must find the remaining
Stones."
"Begging your ladyship's pardon," Kiaphas said, "But how are
we to do that without Merri? I thought she was your Paladin, and
the only one who could find the Stones?"
"She has forsaken me, and I will deal with her later. It is
true that as my Champion she is the only one who may reclaim the
Altar. However, anyone may seek the Stones."
"And how are we to find them?" I asked.
"Marse may use the Scry you possess to locate them. The
Scry has absorbed enough of the power of the Stones to attune
itself to their location."
"Will this drive Marse as insane as it drove Merri?" Jolan
wondered.
"Merrideth was overwhelmed by the power of the Stones. Each
of the Stones she recovered was being misused, and their powers
were still tinged with corruption, which began affecting her. In
time, she will return to her senses."
"May I speak freely, my lady?" Marse asked.
"Of course, my child." Marse took a moment to gather his
courage before continuing.
"I hope you're satisfied." He said, "If you'd let me explain
things at the beginning, none of this would be necessary." Well,
Marse scored major points for nerve in my estimation, though none
for good sense. "From the start, I've had to keep secrets from
everyone. Is this not a wrongness? Since when does the Father
condone hiding the light of knowledge? You are a goddess of
Virtue; This deception isn't worthy of you." Well, I thought, it
was nice knowing him.
Surprisingly, however, Shani didn't so much as raise her
voice to him. Instead, she sighed.
"I wish I could say that you were wrong. All I can tell you
is that it is not right for mortals to know a great deal about
their future. You are an exception to that rule, but we felt
that it would be wrong to let you inform those around you of
their fates. It may be that we will pay for that mercy. I am
sorry, my child, but my time on this plane is limited. I must
leave." The goddess faded from view. We all stood quietly,
thinking of the task ahead of us.
Just then, Felin woke from her magically induced sleep. She
sat up and looked around, surprised to be back on the tower roof.
Blinking sleepily, she turned to Palas.
"So, what did I miss?"
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